Scientists have uncovered a surprising new way that giant embryonic cells divide—without relying on the classic “purse-string” ring long thought essential for splitting a cell in two. Studying ...

It's long been assumed that when a parent cell divides into two daughter cells, the parent assumes a spherical shape, which then splits into two cells that have roughly the same, round size. But a new ...

Cell division is an essential process for all life on Earth, yet the exact mechanisms by which cells divide during early embryonic development have remained elusive—particularly for egg-laying species ...

Before a cell commits fully to the process of dividing itself into two new cells, it may ensure the appropriateness of its commitment by staying for many hours - sometimes more than a day - in a ...

Scientists at the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) in Zagreb, Croatia, have discovered that the protein CENP-E, long believed to act as a motor dragging chromosomes into place during cell division, in ...

Cell division ensures growth or renewal and is thus vital for all organisms. However, the process differs somewhat in animals, bacteria, fungi, plants, and algae. Until now, little was known about how ...

Ichthyosporeans Sphaeroforma arctica and Chromosphaera perkinsii undergoing mitosis, depicted as two halves of a cell, rendered in Haeckel-inspired tones and a naturalist style. Cell division is one ...

A mathematical model shows how a thermodynamic mechanism could have made protocells split in two. An elegant ballet of proteins enables modern cells to replicate themselves. During cell division, ...

DNA does not float freely in the cell. Instead, it is wrapped around histone proteins to form structures called nucleosomes.